“Where there’s smoke there’s bound to be fire, Honor,” Sarah Jacobs said into the phone.
She was pleased Honor had uncovered evidence that William was charging the company’s fleet vehicle account for personal coverage.
“It’s a good start. If we’re able to prove he regularly abuses his financial authority, that’s called a pattern of fraudulent behavior. It’ll be easier to convince a judge that you were a victim of intentional fraud, perpetrated by William, once we have established his pattern.”
Honor felt less positive. “Were you able to decipher the acronyms on the Soft Fix financial reports I sent you? I was hoping they represented common legal terms or financial jargon.”
“No, they don’t mean a thing to me, but I do have some good news. The report you found lying on the chair in your office is actually a detailed list of Soft Fix’s accounting files. File names usually indicate what types of documents are contained in them, so I’m working my way through the list, trying to determine which files might be significant. Once I figure that out, I’ll have you access some of the more interesting files on your company’s computer network for closer review.”
They agreed to meet the following week to assess their progress.
Meanwhile, Josh was thrilled with Honor’s decision not to sell her mother’s home and rolled out the draft renovation plans for her review.
“I opened the primary living space to improve flow and modernize the interior, but I was careful to preserve your home’s Victorian charm.”
Honor nodded. He took pride in his work and it showed. “These are impressive, Josh, but can you design one of the rooms to serve as an office for me? It looks like I may be telecommuting quite a bit.”
“How about the big bedroom across from the master suite?”
“But that’s Cody’s room.”
Josh paused. “Cody has his own room here?”
Honor was perplexed. “Of course he does. He’s been taking his naps in there every time we’re over there and he seems to like that room.”
Then, Josh’s real question dawned on her. She realized she had told him she intended to buy out her sisters’ interest in the house and wanted him to remodel it, but they never discussed living there once the remodeling was complete.
Her eyes flew open. “Oh Josh… I’m so sorry. I thought you understood. I shouldn’t make assumptions about such important things. I was hoping this would be our home… yours… mine… Cody’s… don’t you want…”
Before Honor could finish her thought, Josh pulled her close and kissed her hard.
“Hell, yes, I want.” He kissed her again and then pulled back. “Listen, I know we planned to spend Thanksgiving here with my family, but what would you think about a change in plans? As much as I love spending the holiday watching football with my brothers, I think we should spend our first Thanksgiving in North Carolina, packing up my house there.”
Honor wasn’t used to such spontaneity and her mind was spinning. “But we already accepted James and Lisa’s invitation. Won’t they be offended if we renege?”
“With so many of the Js in attendance, the three of us won’t be missed. Besides, when my brothers learn the reason I’m missing the family dinner is because I’m packing to move back to Florida, they’ll be ecstatic. I think we should put my furniture into storage and find a furnished apartment to live in until we get the remodeling finished.”
Honor stammered, “I guess I’m game… if you’re absolutely certain it will be okay with Lisa.”
“Is something else bothering you?”
Honor screwed up her face. “Yes there is. I can’t believe I brought so many clothes back from Chicago and I still don’t have the right wardrobe with me! I have the coat I wore to the airport, but none of my other warm clothes.”
Josh laughed. “I’m sure we can find something for you to wear. I thought you were worried about me suggesting that we get an apartment together. You know, if you think we’re moving too fast, I would totally understand. It’s just…”
Honor cut him off. “I am absolutely ready for that step, Josh. I must admit, I’m a little sad to think about leaving our grand hotel suite to move into an apartment, but I can’t think of a happier reason to leave the Belleview Biltmore than to begin a life with my two guys.”
Josh’s blue eyes twinkled. “Okay then… why don’t we fly up day after tomorrow? The whole trip shouldn’t take more than three days. I’ll call and have movers deliver one of those huge storage cubes to my house for us to pack my stuff into.”
“We need a checklist. Hold on while I grab some paper and a pen.”
“Don’t bother. In the time it takes to write everything down that needs doing, I could have already done most of it.”
Honor gasped. “Everything has to go on a checklist. Without one, won’t you worry we’re forgetting something? Besides, don’t you want the satisfaction of checking stuff off when it’s finished?”
“Umm… no and no.”
“Life together is all about compromise, you know.”
“Okay, you do the list and I’ll do the stuff.”
After Honor completed her list, she called the office to check-in and was surprised to hear, “Thanks for calling Soft Fix. This is Melody. How can I direct your call?”
“Hi, Melody. Why are you covering the switchboard? Where’s Debbie?”
“One of Julie’s cop cousins agreed to let Debbie experience a typical day in the life of a police officer by riding along with him for a shift. It was sort of last minute and Debbie couldn’t find anyone to fill in for her, so I volunteered. Truthfully, I hate answering phones, but it’s cool to know I’m helping Debbie reach her goal.”
“Well, I’m impressed you’re following the principles of The Circle. Can you transfer me to Julie?”
Julie also was busy with The Circle.
“I know we’re supposed to be keeping things confidential, but this morning Ellen Christianson decided to sponsor her first new member -- a young computer technician named Becky Adams. They met at some computer conference and she was impressed by the girl’s potential, but thinks she needs guidance. I hope that’s okay because she already gave me Becky’s completed application. Are you making good progress on The Circle’s database design? It looks like we’re going to need it real soon. Anyway, I scanned all the completed applications I’ve collected and just sent them to you via e-mail.”
Honor opened Julie’s e-mail as soon as they hung up and began reviewing the applications. She was delighted to read Becky Adam’s reason for wanting to join The Circle.
“I’m tired of hearing about strangers who have accomplished amazing things,” she wrote. “I want to meet real, successful women and see first-hand what opportunities are out there so I can become one of the people who achieves amazing things.”
Included in her list of “Strengths/Contributions”, Becky wrote that she could help set-up and run a members-only blog or computer chat-room for The Circle. Honor was intrigued by her ideas and called Becky to discuss them.
“Would you be willing to fly down to Florida for a few days, right after the long holiday weekend? You could stay in one of the extra rooms in my apartment at the Belleview Biltmore Resort.”
Becky squealed with delight.
“Was that a yes?”
“Absolutely!”
Honor laughed. “I can’t tell if you’re more excited about the project or the idea of spending a few days in the warm Florida sun, but I’ll have Julie make your travel arrangements.”
Next, Honor called a few business contacts in Chicago to see if they could use a good administrative assistant. Three of them were willing to take a look at Wendy’s resume. Honor e-mailed their contact information to Wendy’s mother, Helen, and then got back to work on The Circle’s system software.
Now that Honor had several completed applications to work with, she was able to tweak the operating system to make it more beneficial and easier for members to use. As usual, when she was working on software development, the hours flew by.
All at once, the absolute silence of the suite caught her attention. Josh had taken Cody with him to James and Lisa’s and the hotel suite seemed empty without them. Honor realized she was beginning to find it difficult to remember a time when they weren’t part of her life. She decided to close down her software project for a while and called the airline to book their flights to North Carolina. Afterward, she checked the item off her list with a flourish.
Since Josh and Cody still hadn’t returned, she idly opened her e-mail to scan for important messages. She came upon an item with the subject heading, “Acronyms”. Curious, she opened the message and read:
DUN—Duncan Street - Sherri’s place
JOY—Johnny O Yachts
SML—Sherri’s Medical & Life Insurance
MIN—Minton Motors
KFH—Keep From Honor
Honor recognized these acronyms. They were among the cryptic notes she had discovered in the margins of a few financial reports. She tried to figure out who sent the e-mail, but the sender was anonymous and the address did not accept reply messages.
Excited, she called Sarah Jacobs, but got her voice mail. She left a rambling message and forwarded the e-mail to her. Then she re-read the list.
The idea that William and his lieutenants used a special code specifically to keep information away from her was particularly infuriating.
“No wonder his staff looks at me so strangely. They probably think I’m an idiot for not realizing what was going on right under my nose.”
Her thoughts were interrupted by Josh and Cody’s return.
They speculated about who might have sent her the e-mail and how the information could help uncover William’s criminal activities until Cody blurted, “I’m starving.”
Honor beamed at the child and stood. “This turned out to be a great day. Why don’t we celebrate by going to Frenchy’s for dinner?”
“Sounds great,” Josh agreed, heading for the door. “While we’re at the restaurant, I’ll fill you in on the moving tasks I’ve accomplished so far.”
Honor stopped short. “Oh, my gosh—I almost forgot my checklist! We need to compare notes and check stuff off.”